2003 Stowe VT

We decided to spend our first afternoon in Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. It was a clear, warm day and the drive from the airport gave us our first taste of New England fall. The colors were spectacular and at their peak (fortunately it was a late year for color- normally this area peaks around the first week of October so we were about 10 days late). The very distinctive capital building has a golden dome and a vast perfectly manicured front lawn.

We stopped at the visitor center and picked up some maps, etc. The downtown portion of Montpelier is pretty small - more like a big version of Lebanon than a small version of Columbus - so we decided to walk through town. Color was to be found both on and off the trees.

Walking through town you got the feeling that you had stepped back in time or was in a movie. The people, buildings, and sights all matched the stereotypical "New England Town". I can easily imagine this fellow sitting on this same bench 50 years ago.

Many churches with interesting architecture.

We tried to eat a late lunch at a cafe run by the New England Culinary Institute (or something like that). The smell of fresh baked bread and live music greeted you at the door. Alas, when we went to order they had run out of all the things we wanted to order so we were unable to eat there and wound up eating at a nearby Subway.

How many cities still have a non-chain hardware store? How many still have 2 of them next to each other!?!

A Vermont Historical Society building.

The State building.

On our way back to the car we walked around the Capital building grounds a bit.

As I was wrapping up taking pictures, a big tour bus parked and unloaded. Everyone was trying to take pictures from across the street of their traveling companions in front of the building... it was pretty funny to see.

We stopped at a maple syrup farm (factory? distillery? I don't know how to categorize it). After being in Vermont for 4 days I've come to the conclusion that every single maple tree is tapped for syrup production. I call it the sapnet - every tree is connected by suspended tubes that collect from a multitude of tap holes. *** This particular producer had the tap lines run into a building where they produce the syrup. It takes 40+ gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup! And man does it show in the price... $3.25 for enough syrup for 1 meal. Judging by the people buying $20+ containers, there must be a real fetish for this stuff, or perhaps it is addictive. *** This particular farm had a number of fall-type displays setup.

I've been getting into abstracts lately... see if you can guess what this is.

We got to Stowe just in time for sunset and on the way to our hotel, the Golden Eagle Resort, saw a fantastic overlook for catching the town bathed in the side-light of the setting sun. *** Right across from the Golden Eagle was a gourmet pizza place ("Pie in the Sky") and a small movie theater. We wound up eating at their every night and seeing a movie afterwards.

Never one to miss a crisp clear sunrise, I drove up on 108 and came across a dairy farm set against a colorful hillside next to the Stowe Recreation Path.

The cows were just starting to wake up... and this one was not real happy about having its picture taken. After I took this (from some distance away- they were behind an electric fence), the cow got up and started making some mean sounding snorts and advanced towards me. I left.

A bit further up 108 I found a side road that was lined with fir trees and with the low sun shining from the right made for an interesting composition, especially with an incredibly red tree in the distance.

We had breakfast at the Golden Eagle (we had the "Bed and Breakfast" plan- well worth the extra $10/day if you should ever go there). *** Our first stop was the Trapp Family Lodge - the one made infamous by the Sound of Music.

While it looks very nice, be ready to pay... the cheapest room there was $374. During the Christmas holiday season the prices range from $500 to $960 for the "von Trapp Suite".

Gina could not resist the gift Trapp gift shop (or is that "Trap"?)... I occupied myself taking pictures.

We spent a lot of our time just driving around. Vermont is definitely the state for covered bridge lovers- there are many of them here.

Onwards to Moss Falls located just north of Stowe. A short, colorful climb takes us from the parking lot to the falls.

This was actually a pretty sizeable falls.

We parked at the Golden Eagle and then walked down into town along the Stowe Recreation Path - a 5.5 mile path that starts behind a big church in Stowe (the one in the earlier sunset picture) and follows a stream out into the country side. *** We spend the afternoon strolling around Stowe. Gina wants to window shop so I walk around taking pictures.

There was a sculpture exhibit in town- they had placed various metal sculptures in and around town. This one makes an interesting frame for some fall color.

It was a warm sunny day- perfect for taking a quick afternoon snooze...

Stowe is pretty small (it has 1 traffic light) and has the typical collection of small New England town stores.